Healthy U-Akansha

As kids we were always forced to eat right…and now that we wishfully want to do so, our social circuit kind of goes against it. This blog is created to make all those fitness freaks realise that they are not alone in this battle. Read On for some relatable articles and some doable diets.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

You have tried every possible cream and
treatment in the world that promises you a healthy glowing skin but still end
up looking like a dried peach; trust me I know how it feels. I was one of those
kids whose adolescent years were masked by insecurities and acne, and although
I have reached an age where these things should be passé, they are anything
but! It’s true that beauty comes from within, and while there are a lot of
reasons like stress, hormonal imbalance, genetics etc., there are some things
that you can definitely do (food wise) to improve the health of your skin.
These are my top 5 foods for a glowing skin:

1.Sardines: These little swimmers
contain great amount of omega 3 fatty acid that has an anti-inflammatory effect
and can greatly uproot the main cause of acne, i.e inflammation. The oil
in the fish also restores elasticity in the skin and makes it suppler. Don’t
loose heart if you are a vegetarian. You can opt for Flax seeds or walnuts,
which are also a good source of omega 3 fatty acids.

2.
Green tea: In a study published in the ‘Journal of Nutrition’
in 2011, people who drank green tea daily for 12 weeks had skin that was more
elastic and smooth, and had one quarter less sun damage when exposed to UV
light as compared to those who didn’t. The catechins in green tea, which are
high in antioxidants, boost the blood flow and oxygen to the skin, which makes
the skin even more radiant.

3.Tomatoes: The
antioxidant ‘lycopene’ in tomatoes improves skin’s natural SPF thus protecting
the skin from sunburn (though they cannot replace sunscreen for a complete
protection). Lycopene also help combat acne and reduce blemishes. Tomatoes also
contain good amount of Vitamin A and C, which act as great antioxidants.
Tomatoes have also proven to be helpful in preventing skin cancer to a certain
degree. Now that’s one superfood for skin!

4. Soy: People
who consumed soy or soy products, like soy milk, tofu, tempeh etc., as part of their daily diet, developed fewer fine lines and had
improved skin elasticity. This is because of the ‘isoflavones’ present in soy
that stops collagen from breaking down which prevents skin from sagging. So bye
bye wrinkles and hello younger skin!

5.
Brown Rice: If you see the packaging of most beauty
creams, you’ll likely find ‘ceramides’ as one of the ingredients. These are
lipid molecules that help keep the moisture of your skin intact. Brown rice is
one major source of ceramides. When you consume naturally occurring ceramides, these get incorporated
in the outer layer of the skin and help it remain hydrated.

Water was an obvious contender for the list
above and it goes without saying that drinking enough water is important for
maintaining a healthy skin. Along with this it is important to have a healthy
diet low in junk food as nothing kills a beautiful skin more than unhealthy fats going in your system. Try and exercise everyday even if it is just for 15
minutes. Along with other benefits, exercising helps regulate hormones in your
body and people with hormone related skin issues can greatly benefit from this
simple lifestyle change. Exercising also leads to sweating, which opens up the
pores and helps remove toxins from the body.

So with the power of these 5 super foods
and some useful tips, I hope you get that flawless looking skin soon! If you
have any more suggestions from your own experience, do share in the comment
section below!

Friday, November 13, 2015

Its just been
two months since I was in the southeastern French city and my jealousy was
already rising day by day. I was mortified looking at people sitting in
cafés all day long and still somehow managing to look like perfect Calvin Klein
underwear models. I pondered over this gravely, while deep frying my pooris
(Just another extra oily Indian dish). I tried reasoning it out - maybe it’s
the weather…or maybe because they walk everywhere…or maybe all that red wine…no
wait smoking; it has to be their incessant smoking that kills their appetite.
But I knew all these were just jealous thoughts of the fat girlinside me whojust wants to eat cookies all day
without getting fat!

So
I did some research and tried observing the culture a bit more closely to
connect the dots. I mean they got to be doing something really right which is
making them nail the healthy lifestyle, because lets face it, the French
Paradox still exists! I realised that while obesity has significantly
increased in France post 2000 (thanks to all the fast food chains and fads
coming in which no one can escape apparently), they are significantly lower
that other european countries and a lot lower than the big daddy of obesity-
The U.S.

The
simple answer to the riddle of how a nation of alcohol binging, croissants
munching, pastries eating , is that, theyeat
lesser of everything. And this is because they are served smaller portions
of everything. While the rise of fast foods has disrupted the tradition to some
extent, the young generation still follows the tradition of smaller lighter
meals and, well, munching throughout the day in bits. This was also
scientifically proven with some quality research done by CRNS agency in France
and researchers from Philadelphia. They found out that mean portion size across
Paris establishment was around 277g compare to an average of 346g in
Philadhephia (and increase of 25% more approx)

I
have always been an advocate of getting adequate nutrition spread well over the
entire day, and this research and the paradox just strengthened my philosophy.
You need to give your body some rest and not binge on the whole day’s calories
at one go. It always makes sense to stop eating before you feel satiated
because your stomach takes time to send signals to your brain, and for the
brain to receive the signal from the stomach. Spreading out your meal and
eating small portion will also help you to spread out your energy requirements,
and you’ll feel less tired by the end of the day. Try this for a few days, and
you will feel the drastic change in your energy level and your weighing scale
soon!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

I have been thinking about the topic for my blog for a long
time. Lets see, weight loss… soo passé. Obesity… even new borns know about it.
Benefits of sea food… now even a 5 year old can say omega 3 fatty acid without
stuttering. I felt defeated. I have been thinking since then- do we know too much about food now?
Everyone you meet these days has some kind of special insight to give you about
the new ‘blah blah’ diet he/she has been following and how miraculously it has
worked for him/ her. Everyone seems to be ready to pin point on how many
calories the pizza, that I am digging on, contains; or how its bad to have
solid meals after 7 o’clock at night; or how having 5 meals a day is important;
or how avocado is the new magic food and so on. But if we already know so much,
why aren’t the dieticians going out of business?

Its simple. While we know
what the general guidelines are, we don’t know how to tailor them and
practice them according to our body. And that’s when we need the dietitian who can alter our food choices for us.

I also have another philosophy. I do feel that we know a bit
too much about food and are now finicky and picky about little things. Look at
our forefather; they didn’t have access to so much of detailed information
about each and every food stuff. They didn’t know what is whole grain bread or
what happens if you have the yolk of the egg as well, or why you should avoid
rice at night.

My advice, keep it simple and easy. Have home cooked meal as
much as you can. If you are a horrible cook, even better, dig on raw foods! Walk till the
mall. Go vegetable shopping with your wife/ mom. Drink water instead of Cola. Take
time out and relish a heavy breakfast and enjoy it; make it look pretty with
colourful fruits, juice, slice of bread, egg some nuts etc. It is ok to have a
meal after 7, if you keep it light. And importantly, allow yourself a treat
once in a while. You are not alive to punish yourself to death.

I know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but trust me
having a lot of knowledge and not knowing how to use it, is probably a bigger
danger. So go back to basics and keep it simple.

Friday, July 3, 2015

Since the time mankind has come to believe in religions, ritual fasting has become an imperative part of most cultures; be it for Hindus who fast during Navratra, Muslims who fast during Ramadan or Jews who fast during Yon Kipper. And since we never back down to start the mud slinging about how bad a particular religious way of fasting is, I decided to look at the whole matter rather objectively and solely from health point of view. Now let me tell you that I have never fasted in my life. Not because I am not spiritual but because I love food way too much; but after knowing what good fasting can do to your body, I am tempted to test my will once again.

Human body is well equipped to handle periods not eating, thanks to our history of our forefathers being hunters and gatherers. Search 'fasting and health' online and you will get more than 34 million results in less than 0.32 seconds, most of them talking about the doctor recommended benefits like how fasting helps in removing toxins, resting your vital organs and weight loss. Now I for once will never recommend fasting as a means to lose weight (I'll tell you why by the end of the post), but I for sure will vouch for the other health benefits that accompanies a fast.

Burns Fat! Let me explain how our body works. when we eat food, our body utilizes carbohydrate to produce glucose in the body which gives energy. In the absence of food, the stored up glycogen is used to produce energy. When that gets over, our body starts to burn fat. However if you prolong the fast to few days, Ketosis kicks in, meaning the body is using fat as a primary source of fuel. In the short run, it leads to fatigue, soreness and bad breath. In the long run it causes additional stress on the liver and kidney and can cause damage.

Fasting may help your heart: Fasting for shorter duration may prevent heart diseases and insulin resistance which is a pre-cursor of diabetes.This again goes out to the fat burning effect of fasting. If you are burning fat cells, chances are your heart will remain block free for longer.

It can cut down the risk of cancer: Although still in nascent stages of research, it has been proven that fasting decreases the growth and division of malicious cells in humans. So fingers crossed.

Now the reason I mentioned that I would never fast for the 'weight loss' is because of the tittle of my post. Most of us get so excited by the thought of food after a fast that we forget the whole purpose of a fast. We become voracious eaters and dig on anything and everything. That kills the whole purpose of fasting and shoots down the fundamental theory of '5 small meals a day'. Your body is going to stack up all the calories in double the amount when you feast after a long fast. My advice to those who are fasting- Break your fast with more of fruits and liquids and less of fried and heavy meals. Take a break once you are thorough with the fruits. Take a walk, rest for a while and then sit for the main course. This way you are not only spacing out your meals, but also getting satiated early and avoiding the binge calorie intake.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

I yawned again and sleep walked till the coffee machine for
my 3rd cup of extra strong coffee that day. I cranked up the noisy
machine and watched it pour the espresso in my big Soup mug. I stared at the
mug trying to convince myself that the caffeine is not all that bad after all. A,
It helps boost metabolism, B its winters, C…Damnit, I ran out of excuses
there. Truth to be told, coffee is not one of the best things to be consumed in
winters. Sorry, coffee machine gossipers.

Coffee and other caffeine containing beverages, dehydrate
your body. They have a diuretic effect on your system, meaning you’d need to
visit the washroom more often; having said that, it also kills your thirst for water.
Coupled with this, the long hours of spending time in air conditioned office rooms,
one tends to get dehydrated more. My advice, restrict yourself to one cup of
coffee per day.

Here is my list of food that you should pig out in winters.
( coz appetite somehow triples in this season)

Oranges and Guava- Nature has its own way of
taking care of us. These 2 fruits, found only in winters, are extremely rich in
Vitamin C (especially guava, which is the best source of Vitamin C). Amongst
other qualities, Vitamin C helps protect you from infectious diseases by
boosting your immunity. Also they are not heavy on calories, so eat to your
heart’s content.

Potatoes- Yup that’s true. Potatoes sometimes
get a bad rap for being a white starch, thrown into the same category as white
rice or white bread. But unlike those starches, potatoes are whole foods that
contain several beneficial nutrients. They are an excellent source of two
immunity boosters—vitamins C and B6, delivering 25% and 29% of your daily needs
per medium potato, respectively.

Avocados and Almonds- One thing that you can
never miss about winters, even if you are on the equator, is the chapping skin
that it brings along with it. Having vitamin E rich foods like Avocados and almonds,
help retain the skin’s collagen and elasticity and prevent it from chapping.

Tofu, Soyamilk, anything Soya- Soya may help to
preserve skin-firming collagen because it is rich in isoflavones. You will have
fewer wrinkles and smoother skin even when exposed to UV rays. And lets’
face it; you tend to expose yourself to sun more in winters than in summer.

These are just some tips to combat winters. Believe me, seasonal fruits and veggies are the best bet for any season as they have just
the right nutrient required for the season. So stay smart and pick out the
right food this winter. You can always have reasons for coffee machine gossips,
but if you don’t make the right choices, you might not always have your health!